The Illusionist
by XFauxAfflictionX
Summary: The new DigiDestined are unaware that when they defeated MaloMyotismon in the dream world, he wasn't destroyed. Their victory formed a prison of sorts and trapped him there. In an effort to free himself, he reaches out to a vulnerable human girl and tries to corrupt her into freeing him. She is stronger than he anticipates, however, and the the two begin to understand each other.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I am writing in the DUBBED English Universe, as it is how I originally watched Digimon. Therefore, he is Myotismon, not Vamdemon._

* * *

 _The Illusionist_

 _Chapter 1_

"Huh… huh… huh…"

Her slamming pulse in her ears and the pounding of her sneakers on the pavement were the only sounds making their way to her ears. She knew the cops were yelling, knew their sirens were running on the cruisers they had left behind when they followed on foot. But she couldn't hear any of it, wouldn't. The only thing that mattered was optimizing her speed so she could outrun them.

Her backpack was synched tight so it wouldn't bounce on her back; so the only possession she valued wouldn't take any damage—her laptop. Or rather, some guy's laptop she had lithely pocketed at a café in Nagoya.

She remembered it well. It was the first time she had stolen something that wasn't to survive. "Large triple shot, soy no foam latte at the bar!" the barista had shouted.

An entitled beverage for an entitled man.

"Yeah, hold on," the man had said shortly, pushing a button on his Bluetooth device in his ear. She remembered not knowing who he was talking to: the person on the phone or the barista… either way, it was rude.

He turned his back, standing and approaching the café counter, leaving his laptop plugged into the wall on the table. Probably figured he would only be feet away—he'd catch anyone trying to take it. And he was probably right. She would need the charging cable too. It wouldn't do her much good to have a laptop and no way to charge it. But leaning under the table to unplug it would take too long. So she made a snap decision. She stood slowly to avoid drawing attention and went to walk out. As she passed his table, she scooped up the laptop, wrapping a fist around the cable and rocketing toward the door. She felt the resistance when she reached the end of the cable, but just as she planned, the force yanked the plug from the wall, trailing behind her like a wedding train.

"Korikona!" Officer Harada yelled, yanking her back from the memory. This wasn't two years ago, this wasn't Nagoya, and she wasn't a kid anymore. If they caught her, it wouldn't be juvenile lockup.

She dared a look over her shoulder, seeing that they were far enough behind. She turned a corner, rocketing down an alleyway next to the old Fuji TV station.

"Don't lose sight of her!" Harada yelled to his colleagues. He had dealt with her before, many times. She was starting to actually like the guy—hero type with a soft side. He'd let her off with warnings in the past because of her age, but she had a feeling that soft side was crystallizing as of late.

She skidded to a halt, yanking her backpack around and reaching in to grab the first wig she found. Blonde. Perfect. She threw it on, listening for the footfalls of the cops. She had time.

With her backpack pulled off, she was able to wrench her hoodie off, turning it inside out to reveal the yellow on the other side of the black. She threw her arms in, tossed her backpack over her shoulder once more, and hurtled down the rest of the alley.

She slowed as she approached the streets, however, and calmly walked into the crowd.

She had to give them credit; they kept up for a while, following in her general direction. But a few alleyways, wig changes, and clothing alterations later, they were done for. They didn't even know what they were looking for anymore. And Harada had known it. It's why he told his men not to lose sight of her. Because when people lost sight of her, they never found the same girl again.

That's what was great about big cities. Blending in and disappearing was as easy as calmly walking down the crowded streets. She'd practiced down to an art—Kyoto, Nagoya, Tokyo, and now Odaiba.

She smiled, putting the last of her wigs back in her backpack, letting her black braided pigtails fall freely. She followed the crowd downtown, casually making her way down to the old north end. She enjoyed the walk. The air was cold and had a mist in it, but it felt good. Refreshing. And the north end was a collection of old, out-of-use buildings, which inevitably where crowd-less. So staying in the stream with the fishes was her best bet currently. She wandered for a few hours as the sun went down, marveling at the neon lights, the opulent store fronts, the brightly-lit street signs, the colorful men and women. And when she felt it was safe, she headed home.

The Portal had been an old-fashioned theater, even when it was in business. They used an old marquee instead of a digital one, and their single-screen showroom had been a stage theatre once. Apparently, they had thought the novelty of it would make people want to see movies there. But their business model had been shit—one screen, one movie. Not a real crowd-pleaser.

She slipped under the chain link where she had cut her small hole almost a year ago. She pulled her backpack from her shoulder, gently tossing it up into the second-story window on the east side of the building, knowing it would land softly on the bed of newspapers she had piled there for just this reason. She backed away, finding the crack in the cement sidewalk that signified her usual spot. She took a deep breath, hurdling toward the wall.

She leapt onto the dumpster she had pushed just to the left of the window, using her momentum to backspin left and leap to the windowsill. She caught herself by her fingertips, as usual, and hauled herself into the projection room… or rather, her bedroom.

She smiled as she picked up her backpack. It wasn't much, but it was her version of perfect. In the far corner was her pile of sleeping bags and winter coats she used as a bed. The pillow she had stolen from a department store. The broken canvas wall art of a seahorse she had found in someone's trash bin. The broken wood backing made the seahorse a bit crooked in the middle, but she actually liked him that way. She had hung it on the wall using a nail she had pulled from a door hinge downstairs, and to this day, it hadn't failed. And when she came across a Sharpie, she had scribbled "Naru" to the seahorse's left.

On the opposite concrete wall she had spray painted "Kona" on the wall in graffiti using four different colors (stolen in the pillowcase of the stolen pillow).

She leaned down, using her lighter to light the six candles she used to illuminate her bedroom. She set her backpack on her bed, pulling her dying flashlight from its innards and heading downstairs to do her rounds.

She checked the two emergency exits first—still locked up tight. She headed for the front entrance next, where moviegoers used to pile in by the… twenties. Still boarded up and secured.

She hurried back upstairs, as she didn't want to exhaust the already fading flashlight battery. She plopped onto her bed with a sigh, pulling the potato salad and banana from her backpack, hoping they would be worth the police chase.

She opened the laptop, glad that her rendezvous into civilization had been good for more than just dinner. She was able to completely charge the laptop at the library first.

"Remember that random code I found on that strange website a while ago, Naru?" she said, pulling the peel back on the banana. "That one that reads like a story? I was able to download the next hundred pages. I don't know why I find it so interesting. It's just code. But it's cool… if you know how to read it, you find recurring ones. Like characters. And some of them are complete codes, some of them aren't. But then you keep studying and you find that somewhere in there, the code was completed. Then if you go back, you can find what completed it. Like… character arcs, in a story…"

She paused, looking up at the seahorse. His eyes were emotionless. She took a bite of the banana, finding it not quite ripe.

"Sorry, I'm boring you. You'd rather talk about seahorse stuff," she said with a giggle.

She plugged her headphones into the laptop, pulling up her playlist and diving in.

The sequence hadn't changed much since the last time she read it. There was one code she kept seeing that interested her, though. It seemed to eat the codes around it—they became part of it, and it got bigger… stronger. Like a virus of some kind. But when she had stopped reading last, the code's progress had drastically changed; become infinitely smaller. Like all its progress had been erased. She was interested to find it again, to see if it had been destroyed.

For several minutes, she just looked for the code. It had several identifying markers she always looked for; certain rules. And it had a gap in it that was partly completed. And when it had been almost completely erased, those gaps were still there. Which gave her hope in finding it again.

She drowned out the silence surrounding her with her playlist of foreign language music. She found she couldn't concentrate if she could understand the words. It was some German rock ballad, and it was one of her favorites.

 _Menschen suchen Menschen_

 _Jeder sucht für sich allein_

 _Menschen brauchen Menschen_

 _Wir wollen nicht…_

" **IS SOMEONE THERE?"**

Kona screamed as she yanked her headphones off and looked around frantically. Someone… a man… had just said that.

"He…hello?" she squeaked. She was positive she had checked all the doors… And unless someone parkoured their way through the window…

No answer. Just silence. She fished her switchblade from her backpack, tentatively putting her headphones back on, but only on one ear. She wanted to listen to the theater… make sure.

With a surprise, she realized she had found the code… the one she had been looking for. It was dead center in the sequence, and was smaller and less familiar than last time… as if even more coding had been stripped away. She furrowed her brow at the screen, trying to find the last time this code appeared. What was destroying it?

" **ARE YOU THERE?"**

Kona jumped again, but this time realized she only heard it in one ear… the one with her headphone on.

"Hello?" she squeaked again, this time keeping her headphones on.

" **WILL YOU HELP ME?"**

The voice was masculine, but small and weak… as if far away.

"I… who are you? How do I help you?" she asked, unsure of what was even happening. Was someone communicating with her through her computer? If so, how? She wasn't attached to the internet… she would need a data connection of some kind to maintain a connection with… anything.

" **My name…un…important…"**

The voice was breaking up, like a bad phone connection.

"Are you still there?" she asked quietly.

" **Here. Will you… help… please…"**

"Ok, yes, I will… but how?"

As she spoke, she noticed the code on her screen change suddenly. That shouldn't have been possible either… it was a download. It would need an internet connection to be modified.

She laid her fingers on the touchpad to scroll down and see if somehow she had deleted something.

The instant her skin met the computer, she felt a shock travel through her nerves. Her body seized up, and the computer's screen flashed a brilliant white so bright it lit the entire room as if with daylight. Then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

When Kona woke, the sun was spilling in through the window. Her head was pounding, like she'd been hit with a brick right in the temple. She groaned, sitting up and rubbing her forehead. The computer was tipped over on her sleeping bags, the screen black. She pulled it into her lap, tapping a few keys. No response.

"Shit," she mumbled, hoping it was simply a dead battery from being left on all night and nothing more. What had happened? Did the laptop shock her? She distantly remembered receiving a shock. That was the last thing she remembered.

 **"I thought you'd never wake. I was beginning to think I'd killed you."**

Kona yelped, leaping to her feet. It was that voice again… the one from her headphones. But… she wasn't wearing her headphones. And this time it felt like it was everywhere… like she could feel it in her bones.

"What?" she said aloud, rubbing her head again. Had she collapsed and hit it?

 **"You don't remember?"**

"I… I… remember what?"

 **"You agreed to help me."**

She remembered saying something like that, but it was just to keep the voice talking so she could figure out where it had been coming from.

"Agreed… what?" she asked, feeling drunk.

 **"This is going to be more difficult than I anticipated. I'm trying to have a conversation, would it be possible for you to form complete sentences?"**

The voice was dripping with disdain and sarcasm.

"Wha… KISS MY ASS!" she yelled. It was a good thing she was alone… anyone seeing her yelling like this would think she was insane.

 **"Well… not what I had in mind, but technically…"**

"Who are you?!" she yelled. "And… _where_ are you?" she asked in a calmer tone. The computer was dead. She didn't own anything else that could project sound.

 **"If I tell you, you have to agree to keep calm. I'm in no mood to tackle hysteria."**

"I've never been hysterical in my life," she responded with equal disdain.

 **"Well, there's a first for everything…"**

"Just tell me!" she yelled, kicking one of the sleeping bags out of a distant rage.

 **"Not off to a good start, are we?"**

"Oh my god, I'm being scolded by a disembodied voice. I hit my head harder than I thought. God? I always thought you were a vindictive bastard, but this is some bull…"

 **"Hardly. Would you like to keep rambling incoherently, or can I continue?"**

Kona huffed, calming herself. Getting angry only seemed to prod this … _thing_ on. Like a toddler.

"So," she asked with forced calm. "Who are you, where are you? How am I hearing you?"

The voice was quiet for a long time. She was starting to think it left… however it would do that.

 **"Let's start with my name. I am not going to give it to you until I know I can trust you. For now, you can call me 'M'."**

"M?" she asked incredulously. "That's not cryptic at all," she said with irritability.

 **"And as for where I am…"** the voice trailed off, a hint of something arising. Something that sounded like… worry.

There was a sigh.

 **"I used an access point to transfer… to travel to you."**

Kona scoffed. "That was delightfully vague. Thank you, that cleared things up _so much_."

 **"I am possessing you."**

Kona's first reaction was to laugh. _Possession?_ She didn't even believe in it.

"Yeah, and next I'm going to start talking backwards and crawling up the wall like a spider."

 **"If you would like me to, I can make you do that. But the last time I did that to a host, they had a heart attack and died. Which leaves me stranded again. And finding you was… difficult enough."**

"I can't even… I don't… you're _possessing me?_ So you're a… ghost? A demon? This is all so… I don't even believe in that shit. And you… found me? How? How does a ghost even find a person? Undead yellow pages?"

The voice actually scoffed.

 **"I am not a ghost… at least not in your cultural definition of the word. That download you accessed—it is a parallel world to yours. A digital world. What you see in that code is the skeletal makeup of my entire world. And you found me. You continued to find me. You continued searching for my code, so I was able to start locating you. I can only find you when you are looking for me… like a mirror. I only see you when you look into it."**

Kona still wasn't sure she believed this. She was… possessed. And talking to a person who was… occupying her. At the least, it was a very convincing hallucination. At worst… it was real.

"You're digital?" she asked.

 **"Yes."**

"And… you were somehow able to… upload into me… a human… non-digital person?"

 **"In so many words. I used to be able to transport my entire form into your world without using a host, but… I… can't anymore."**

There was something sounding like… regret in the voice.

Kona thought for a long time. What was even happening… she, a vagrant… a homeless teenage runaway… was possessed by some… _guy_ from another world.

"So… you can see everything I'm thinking?" she asked worriedly.

 **"For now. You have the ability to guard things from me, but seeing as you've never been possessed before…"**

Kona genuinely laughed. "Never possessed before." As if it was something that most people did. Like losing their virginity. Everybody did at some point.

 **"Cute."**

"Hey, that one wasn't for you!" she yelled, blushing.

 **"If you want to keep things from me, you'll have to practice. Or don't think about them."**

Like that would be easy… how does one _practice_ being possessed? Kona got an image then, one that saw her running an electric drill straight into her own temple.

 **"Well that's terrifying,"** M said with obvious amusement. **"But it really wouldn't serve either of us very well, would it?"**

Serve…

"I'm supposed to be helping you… how am I supposed to do that? By being your verbal punching bag for all eternity, cuz that drill bit starts to sound real nice…"

M was quiet.

"Well while you think about it, I'm gunna eat something."

She grabbed the potato salad and plastic spork and plopped down on her bed.

 **"I'm… trapped. In my world…"**

"Yeah, you and me both, buddy. Let me know when you figure out how to fix that…"

 **"No… I mean, I'm stuck in a specific place in my world, trapped. And I'm… dying."**

He became quiet, and Kona did too. To this point it had been pointless, insane, witty banter. Now there was actually a problem.

 **"I'm being destroyed, every day. And you're my last effort to fight it. You understand my world, you can read every second, every shift in its sequence. You found my code, kept finding it. No doubt you noticed that I used to be… more."**

A thought came to her.

"So… if you can access my world, can I access yours?"

M laughed, a genuinely terrifying sound. Like every Disney Villain mixed together stalking through a haunted house.

 **"The question I've been waiting for. Yes, you can. But you will need that computer. Charge it, then find me. Right now, it's time for me to go…"**

"What? _Find you?_ How am I supposed to do that? You're in my head…"

M made a sound. It sounded like a wounded dog.

 **"Just say my name, I'll still be here. I just… need to go for a while. I can't…"**

"Your name?! All you gave me was a letter…"

There was a screeching sound, like someone was dragging nails across the inside of her skull. She yelped, grasping her temples and hoping to make it stop.

 **"** _ **Please…"**_

He sounded distant and… scared. The screeching intensified, and Kona thought her head would explode from the pressure and pain it caused. She groaned as it finally stopped with a _pop_ , leaving everything completely and deathly silent.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

That afternoon, Kona cautiously made her way back downtown. Usually, after a close call with the cops, she would lay low for a while. But her curiosity was getting the better of her. She wanted to find out who… or _what_ M was, and how to get him out of her head. And what was with the screeching?

She entered the public library, pulling her old library card from the front zipper pocket of her backpack and handing it to the attendant.

"Hello… Korikona," the woman said, peering at the card.

"Just Kona, thanks," she said absently, looking around for a quiet corner where no one was sitting. If she was going to be talking to… herself, then she needed privacy.

"Ok Kona. Is this address still good?"

Kona looked back at the attendant, a thousand bad memories flooding back and assaulting her.

"Yup," she said curtly. "Still live there."

"Alright, you're all good then. Let me know if I can help you find anything," the attendant said.

"Thanks," Kona said quietly, taking her card back and rearranging her backpack.

There was a plush chair in the far corner, next to a bay window. On the wall to the right of the window was an outlet.

Kona speed-walked to the chair, plopping down and fishing the charger and computer from her bag.

"M?" she asked as quietly as she could while the computer booted.

" **I'm here,"** he responded, sounding very flat and tired. Like someone with a massive hangover.

"Oh, not feeling the asshole act this evening?" Kona asked with a smile.

" **No. And you can speak to me in your thoughts, you don't have to speak out loud. But if you want to look like a lunatic, please be my guest. But keep your voice down, my head hurts."**

 _There's the asshole,_ Kona thought. _And_ your _head hurts! Try mine! You made an awful racket when you left this morning._

" **Yes, well… that wasn't of my doing. Although some of the yelling may have been me…"**

 _Why?_ Kona asked.

" **Unimportant. I was watching as you entered the library. Your thoughts regarding that address were very… loud."**

 _I may not be able to keep you away from my thoughts, but I'd suggest staying away from those particular ones, or you're going to have a very loud, vicious, uncontrollable girl on your hands… if you even have hands. Did we breach that topic? What are you, anyway?_

" **You'll see soon enough. And point taken. I will mind my boundaries."**

 _Thank you. Now… how do I go about… coming to you?_

" **Find that sequence again. Not the one you downloaded a copy of, the real one. The one you found on the internet. Then find me. You know my coding. Tell me when you've found it. I'm going to stop talking and rest for a moment…"**

There was something very different about his voice. It wasn't half as vibrant as before, and the sarcasm was almost nonexistent.

 _You sound different,_ she said as she navigated her usual route of websites.

" **Yes, there's a reason for that. Please let me rest. Let me know when you've located me."**

It took her a while. The site was hidden behind several redirects and error-outs. It was like a padlock she had to traverse.

It took her about fifteen minutes to locate it, and M was quiet the entire time. It was weird; she only… 'acquired' him yesterday, but kind of missed him when he wasn't there. It was kind of nice to have company.

 _Found it,_ she said, scrolling down to find her progress. Several pages had been added since she downloaded, but his code was still exactly where it had been. But again, it was smaller.

" **Good. Now keep both hands on the computer. And try not to scream."**

 _What? Why would I…_

The library began to spin around her, little points of light illuminating from other peoples' laptops, cell phones, pagers. The library spun faster, opening in the middle, right in the center of her laptop screen. The hole grew bigger, opening to swallow her like a giant maw.

Before she could even scream, the hole swallowed her, and she began to fall.


	4. Chapter 4

_Note: Recall that the time imbalance between worlds was fixed during the Digidestined battle with Apocalymon. One digital day is equal to one analog day._

* * *

 _Chapter 4_

Kona felt like she was falling forever. Falling, spiraling… feeling like vomiting. When it finally stopped, she felt like her brain was still doing pirouettes in her skull. It took her a moment to realize she was sitting on a hard cobblestone floor.

"Uggghh," she moaned, rubbing her head. "M?" she said aloud. Her voice echoed. She looked up, finding a long stone hallway, lit only by a few burning torches.

"Hello?" she asked, still feeling sick to her stomach. "M?"

No answer.

"Figures, _now_ he decides to _shut up_ ," she mumbled, pushing herself to her feet and hitting something hard with her heel. She turned, finding her laptop on the ground behind her. She knelt, checking it for nicks and scratches before opening it.

The display was black, but the ever familiar code, apparently the digital world's code, was slowly scrolling past. She tried to navigate away, press escape, ctrl+alt+del, anything. Nothing changed.

"Huh," she grumbled, shutting it and picking it up. She cautiously walked down the hallway, listening for any signs of life.

"Hello!" she called, slightly louder this time.

Nothing but echoes.

She found a staircase at the end of the hallway and followed it. The place was like a castle; stone walls and archaic-looking tapestries, lit by wall-mounted torches.

The stairs let out in a grand foyer, a huge triple-tiered chandelier hanging high above. Two massive doors were on her left, and to her right was a grand staircase leading to a third story, complete with gold embellishments on the hand rails. She whistled, impressed.

"What a dump," she said sarcastically, going for the front doors. It was heavy when she pulled—she had to put all her weight into pulling it open.

Nothing but thick, dark, overgrown forest outside. She huffed, shutting the door and turning back to the grand staircase.

"Helloooo!" she yelled, her voice echoing.

As she ascended the stairs, she shivered. The stone didn't do much to keep the place warm. She rearranged the laptop, rubbing her arms to warm up. Funny, wherever she was, she had been transported with her laptop but not her backpack.

She turned left once upstairs, finding a dark wood door slightly ajar.

"M?" she called, pushing it open.

If the room was supposed to be a bedroom, it was sorely lacking. Nothing on the walls, no bed, no carpets or rugs. Just… a long box in the middle…

No, it wasn't a box… it was…

 _A coffin._

 **"Yes."**

Kona jumped as someone sat up inside the coffin.

He was strangely dressed—some kind of formal navy suit with a cape and high collar. His skin was so pale it was almost baby blue, and his eyes were a slightly darker shade… like ice over a deep lake. Covering his eyes was some kind of sleek red mask… like a masquerade mask. His hair was light blonde, slicked back save for a few strands, which fell in his face haphazardly. Under that, there were pointed, elf-like ears. And overhanging his dark lips were fangs… very sharp fangs.

 _"M?"_ she asked again incredulously. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but it _definitely_ wasn't… _this._

 **"Yes,"** he responded, pushing himself to his feet and stepping out of the coffin. **"I have to say, I'm impressed. Didn't think you would make it here."**

She brushed off what was surely meant as an insult. "WHOA, you are _not_ what I expected."

 **"Clearly,"** he said flatly. **"You were expecting a floating sheet with holes for eyes… although we do have those here…"**

Kona was quiet for a long time. So much was racing through her mind.

"Uhhhhh… let me get this straight…" she began, unsure where to start. She set her computer on the ground, making sure to stay well away from M. She didn't know who he was or what he could do yet.

"You're digital?" she asked.

 **"A Digimon, yes,"** he said, looking bored.

"And that code I found was the systematic makeup of the entire digital _world?"_

 **"Yes,"** he said again, looking even more bored.

"So… that means… if I'm here… I was just… _digitized?!_ "

 **"Indeed."**

Kona took a step back, feeling like she'd been hit in the chest.

"So I was just sucked into my computer in front of a bunch of people?"

 **"No,"** he said, beginning to pace. She made sure to back away if he seemed to come closer. **"You were instantly transformed into data. I doubt anyone noticed. You humans are terribly self-absorbed."**

She stared at him for a long time. He waited patiently, if not a little perturbed.

"So… you called yourself 'Digimon.' What is that?"

 **"Digimon are the creatures that inhabit the digital world."**

"There's… creatures… in data?"

 **"Trust me, we find you equally strange."**

"You wanna tell me your name now?" she asked forcefully. She had traveled to a different world to help him. Least he could do was share his name.

He narrowed his eyes at her, studying her intensely.

 **"No,"** he said finally, turning away and walking back to look down into his coffin. **"I told you I would do that when I trust you."**

"I just traveled to another _world_ for you! You don't trust me?"

 **"Of course not. Do you trust me?"**

He had a good point. Something in her gut was still telling her not to be within striking distance of this… _Digimon._

She huffed, retrieving her computer from the ground.

"So what am I doing here?" she asked.

 **"Before I answer that, tell me what you know about this world, about me."**

"Oh…kay," she said, not sure how that would help. "Well… everything here has a specific and unique code. I guess… what I thought were characters are actually… Digimon. And some are complete, some aren't. They travel through the sequence, through the… digital world, looking for the code blocks that will complete them. There were a few early-on that found their code blocks, and then became huge, recurring codes."

 **"And how many of those did you find?"** he asked, still facing his coffin.

"Um… eight."

He smiled, and it, like his laugh, was actually kind of terrifying.

 **"Yes. Go on."**

"That's where I first found yours… your code. It started mediocre, but it… kept incorporating the codes around it and becoming stronger. Like a virus…"

He giggled. Another shiver-inducing sound.

 **"That's exactly what I am. Well done."**

"You're… a virus? Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't viruses really _bad_ for programs?"

 **"Yes,"** he said with another crooked grin. **"They are. And what happened to my code as you continued reading?"**

He completely skirted the fact of what he had just admitted. Like she had asked him if he was a murderer, and he had said yes with flippant disregard. She decided to answer his question anyway.

"Well… those eight codes showed up again, and then all of them disappeared. Yours too. Then yours was gone for a long time. And when it showed back up, it was horribly depleted and corrupted. And it's been that way ever since."

He was quiet, staring down at the floor and refusing to face her. It was just as well, she wanted him to stay away, for now. Those fangs weren't exactly welcoming.

 **"What you describe is the history of the digital world. Those eight codes are what is known as the Digidestined. Eight Digimon destined to pair with eight human children to protect both worlds. I… I am an opposition virus. My sole purpose is to corrupt and consume positive data. I did as I was fated to do. Until I found a way to corporealize myself into your world. I believed that it was my destiny to conquer both worlds. That** _ **that**_ **is how I would complete my code, complete myself. That's why all of our codes disappeared for a time. We weren't** _ **in**_ **the Digital world anymore, and thus our data wasn't recorded. But the Digidestined defeated me there. But as you've probably seen, codes cannot be completely destroyed.** _ **Digimon**_ **cannot be completely destroyed—only reprogrammed. And the ones who defeated me knew this. Though they weren't aware at the time, when they defeated me, they also created a way to keep my code from resurfacing in any form. To keep me trapped in a single form. To prevent me from fulfilling my destiny. To keep me from completing** _ **my code.**_

"And if it hadn't been for those meddling kids?" she asked, unable to stop herself.

He finally looked at her, his eyes harsh and unforgiving.

"Sorry," she squeaked. "Continue."

He turned toward her slowly, raising a hand and pulling the collar of his shirt down.

Some kind of pulsing black metal-looking collar resided there. It looked… really uncomfortable.

"What… what is that?" she asked.

 **"It's why I asked for your help. This… contraption keeps me from doing anything. Keeps me from evolving, keeps me from… living."**

"Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but you basically just told me that you're the _bad guy_. Why would I help you?"

He straightened, taking a few steps toward her. She didn't back away, but clutched her computer closer. She wasn't exactly sure what she could do, anyway. Did weapons exist in the digital world? Would she even be hurt if he damaged her digitized form? Or would she just wake up back in her body, in the library?

 **"I… was hoping you would understand. That I didn't do any of it… well, I didn't do** _ **much**_ **of it to be malicious. Some of it I did."** He grinned. **"I did it because it was what I felt I** _ **had**_ **to do. What I was** _ **meant**_ **to do. Just like you… running away from home."**

"Hey! You said you would stay away from those memories!" she yelled, taking an angry step forward.

She didn't realize that with his pacing and her step forward, he was now within two feet of her. He was taller… a lot taller than her. At least six feet or more. And he was imposing.

She went to take a step back, but he was faster. Like a striking snake, he grabbed her wrist, yanking her close with the force of a freight train. His fingers were longer than a normal human's, wrapping around her wrist entirely. He held her hand up over her head, so she had trouble fighting back. And she certainly didn't want to drop the laptop from her other hand.

 **"I asked you here to help me. If you decline, then you're not of much use to me,** _ **are you?"**_

 _Shit._

With lightning speed, he pulled her wrist to his mouth, his fangs piercing her flesh like tiny knives. Her blood spilled onto his lips.

She yelped, trying to pull away, but his grip was like a vice. She made the snap decision to drop the laptop to regain use of her other hand. She slammed it against his chest, yanking back.

Still no good. And every second that passed she could feel herself getting weaker. She cried out, slamming her fist against his chest repeatedly, trying desperately to free herself. Codes couldn't be destroyed, but… she wasn't, technically. She was human. What would happen to her if he destroyed her code while she was _in_ the digital world?

Just when she thought she was done for, he released her, dropping her hard onto the stone floor. He backed away, breathing hard and licking the blood from his lips. He smiled, turning away from her again.

 **"So…"** he began. His voice had changed—it was stronger, more volatile. **"** _ **Do we have a deal?"**_

Kona rubbed her wrist, feeling lightheaded and faint.

"Fine," she said curtly, looking down at the wounds in her wrist.

 **"Good,"** he said with a wry smile. He took a single step away from her, then… something changed.

He cried out, collapsing to his knees. The black collar around his neck began to glow, electric sparks flying out. He looked up, peering toward a window in the far wall. The sun was beginning to peek through.

 **"No!"** he yelled, grasping at the band on his neck. His confidence was gone, replaced with fear. **"No, not now,** _ **no**_ **…"**

The glow intensified, and he jerked, falling onto his back and writhing like a wounded snake. He screamed, but it was more like a screech. The same screech she had heard that morning, before heading to the library.

In a split second, what looked like black flames erupted from all around him. The screech intensified. His form was slowly reduced to nothing but a skeleton, but he was still moving.

 _"Oh my god,"_ Kona gasped, backing away as quickly as she could in a crab-crawl.

The flames went out suddenly, the screeching stopped, and the bones turned to ash, which slowly floated into the air and disappeared. Before Kona could react, the room spun around her, swallowing her up and spitting her back out at the Odaiba library, staring at her now normal, web-browsing screen.


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

Kona gasped as she found herself sitting in the library chair, staring at her screen. It was bright, and her computer read _7:52am._ She had been in the digital world all night…

She rocketed to her feet, running to the bathroom as fast as she could. There were people in the other stalls, but she didn't care. Clutching her stomach, she ran into an open stall and vomited in the toilet. The image… seemed burned into her eyelids.

He caught fire… black fire. Then his flesh just melted, and… his bones were still moving.

Kona groaned, wiping cold sweat from her forehead and standing. She shuffled meekly to the sink and rinsed her mouth and hands.

A kindly-looking woman emerged from a stall.

"Are you alright, dear?" she asked worriedly.

"Fine," Kona said, keeping her eyes downcast as she washed her hands. "Just, uh… bad lunch, that's all."

She hurried from the bathroom, not bothering to dry her hands and just wiping them on her pants.

She collapsed into her chair, thankful no thieves were about to steal her… stolen laptop.

Her mind raced, and with it, her heart. What to do? He had attacked her, basically threatened to kill her if she didn't help release him.

That reminded her…

She peered down to find two puncture marks in her wrists, surrounded by already bluing bruises. _So he could actually hurt her… even more reason to never go back._

And then… that thing, that collar. It was monstrous. She would never wish anything like that on anyone.

Part of her wondered if he was still in her head. She knew it hadn't killed him, he had told her he couldn't be killed. And she had a feeling it had happened before. She had heard that horrifying screech before. But the last time it happened, she had a few hours of peace and quiet… it had taken him a while to contact her again.

She decided to use those few hours to download the days' digital world code, and pillage the library for every book on coding she could find. She returned to her chair with five books, and dove in.

She found his most recent code. It was interesting… she could actually find her own, in the new pages.

 _Weird… all that I am, reduced to a few lines of code…_

She went back to his, trying to differentiate him from whatever that collar was. It took her almost an hour to go through the event. Her, moving through the castle. Him, attacking her.

Then she spotted it. A binary code appeared after the attack, the only binary she had seen so far. It wasn't long. It was simple, and if she copied it down, she could probably decipher it in a matter of minutes.

 **"So… you decided… to help me after all."**

 _Oh boy, you're back,_ she thought with dripping disdain. His voice was broken and weak, and he kept taking strained breaths.

 **"I told you, I can't…"** he paused, and she heard a whine, like a wounded dog. **"Can't be destroyed. Only recreated. Endlessly. Mercilessly."**

Kona couldn't help the pity she felt, even though he had hurt her. She still felt bad for him.

 _So, what? You're just reborn every time that happens?_ she asked, writing the binary code down on a piece of newspaper so that she could study it without using the computer.

 **"You could call it that, I suppose. Imagine someone removing all of your components and separating them. Bones, blood, muscle, flesh. And then they put you back together. And you're awake through the entire process.** _ **That**_ **is what happens."**

Kona shivered. It was _literally_ a nightmare. _I… I'm sorry,_ she thought meekly. _That sounds… horrifying._

He didn't respond.

 _Look, I don't know what will happen if I release you. For all I know, you're the virus that can take out the entire digital world. But… I don't think what is happening to you is right. No one should suffer like that. But if I'm going to do this, we have to understand each other. If you ever attack me like that again, I will make sure that you never get a reprieve from this thing. You'll be reborn, and instantly burn again. Forever. Understand?_

He was quiet again.

 **"I understand,"** he responded quietly.

 _Good,_ she replied. _Because I've located the code for that… thing. I'm going to study how it works, and I'll let you know what I find._

He was quiet again. She thought for a moment, her courage falling apart a bit.

 _Are… are you ok?_ she asked softly.

 **"Would you be?"** he said distantly.

 _No…_ she hadn't meant to think that. She wanted him to think she didn't care. That would give her more leverage. But… it had just popped into her head.

 _So,_ she thought, changing the subject. _When I first got to the digital world, I called for you. You didn't answer. Why?_

 **"I only possess you in your world. I can't very well occupy two minds at once, can I?"**

 _I don't know what you're capable of,_ she thought as she finished writing the code on the newspaper. _Is this permanent? I mean… will you be in my head forever?_

 **"You gave me permission when I asked if you would help me and you responded with 'yes.' Because of that, you can't end it. Only I can. And I will, when you release me."**

 _Lovely,_ she said, a little pissed. That meant her only option was release him or live with him forever.

 **"Oh, don't pout. You would miss me,"** he said, his voice more alert.

 _Yeah, when pigs fly,_ she couldn't help the image in her mind of little muddy pigs, flying around on comically tiny cupid wings.

 **"And here I thought my nightmare couldn't get any worse…"**

"It's just an expression. Shouldn't you rest? I could use some quiet so I can figure out this code.

 **"A grand idea. Come visit again soon,"** he said, slightly playfully.

"Uh huh," she responded out loud, pulling the newspaper up to reading distance and opening the book she had found on binary code.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

An antivirus. It was so obvious. The thing around M's neck was an antivirus… a _literal_ firewall. And it had a timer—it kept the virus at bay by attacking it and weakening it, in this case M, on a schedule. It made perfect sense.

Kona looked across the street, finding an elderly couple finishing up their dinner on the patio of Franceso's. Old people were a perfect target. They never finished their food.

Kona adjusted her red wig and stood from the park bench, crossing the street gingerly and heading down the sidewalk. She cut her eyes sideways as the couple hobbled for the restaurant.

She rearranged her backpack as she prepared to hop the patio guardrail. Her pack was heavier, as it now contained her laptop and two books on coding.

She acted fast—hopping over the fence easily and bolting for the table. Several restaurant guests gasped, some standing and backing away. Kona grabbed the half-sandwich the old woman had left, spinning on the spot as she did and heading back over the railing. She smiled to herself as she rounded the corner to run down an alley.

She skidded to a stop, finding a patrol cruiser idling in the alley, no doubt scanning the perpendicular street for speeders.

"Shit!" she spun around to head the other way, slamming into Officer Harada's chest and dropping her food. He was holding a to-go bag from Francesco's.

"Whoa, hey!" Harada yelped, dropping the bag as she pushed past him. At such close proximity, the wig did nothing for her. He recognized her. She tried to spin from his reach.

Not fast enough. He grabbed her backpack, yanking her backwards and forcing her to the ground. "I think we've seen enough troublemaking from you."

She struggled to get to her feet, but he was much stronger. He spun her onto her stomach, yanking her backpack off, then flipping her back over and zip-tying her hands in front of her. He wig fell to the dirt, and Harada ignored it.

"Lee! It's that thief kid I was telling you about!" Harada yelled, and another officer emerged from the passenger side of the car.

"Great!" he responded with faked enthusiasm. "Let's head back, then. Did the food get ruined?"

Harada yanked her to her feet, throwing her backpack to Officer Lee.

"Hey! Be careful with that!" she screamed, trying again to yank free of Harada, to no avail.

"No, it's still in the bag. Grab it, will ya, while I put this garbage in the car?"

"That's not very nice, Jay, I thought I was just a wayward genius?" Kona said, fluttering her eyes at him innocently.

He huffed, shoving her forward and into the back of the cruiser.

She sighed, her brain racing through scenarios of how to get out of this. She was quiet as they drove back to the OPD station, and only managed to grumble as Lee yanked her from the car and walked her inside. He led her down a hallway, where Harada branched off.

Lee finally turned into a large room lined with desks, which were all manned by an officer. Lee shoved her into a seat on the opposite side of an empty desk, dropping her backpack to the left of the trash can. He flopped into the empty chair.

Kona didn't speak. She looked down at his desk, finding several folders full of papers, a coffee mug full of pens and pencils, and a framed family photo.

Officer Lee stood on the left of the photo, a beautiful woman with short-cropped black hair on the right, and an even more beautiful child standing between them, wearing an awful puff-sleeved dress.

"That your kid? She'll make a great porn star someday." Kona said with disregard. "I'm thinking one with lots of tentacles. She looks like a… tentacle kind of girl."

Lee narrowed his eyes angrily at her, grabbing the picture and facing it down on his desk.

Just then, Harada passed by, dropping a manila folder and the Francesco's bag on Lee's desk. He didn't even stop walking.

"Hey, where you going? Don't I usually annoy you?" she called at him.

"He asked me to deal with you," Lee said, unwrapping his toasted Italian sub. Kona tried not to look at it.

Lee sighed, splitting it in half and flopping the other half on the desk in front of her.

She looked at it questioningly.

"Well, you can't annoy me with food in your mouth," Lee said, taking a bite of his own and opening the folder.

"Watch me," Kona said, grabbing the sandwich and digging in.

"Harada says you've been on the streets for years. That you're some kind of… hacker."

"Data miner," she said with a mouth full of meatball. She wiped her face with her sleeve. "I prefer data miner. Hackers break into codes and steal things. I just… like to read them."

"Yeah, cuz you're _definitely_ not a thief," Lee said with sarcasm.

She made a face at him, but continued eating.

"Says here you're seventeen now. You know what that means?"

"I can see my first rated-R movie?! Oh, Officer, are you asking me on a movie date?!" she asked dramatically fanning herself with her free hand. "I wanna see that one with all the machines tearing people apart…"

"No, smartass. It means you're not a juvenile anymore. It means you go to _real_ prison. Where sarcasm doesn't buy much," Lee said harshly.

Kona was quiet, chewing her bite slowly and studying him.

"Oh, come _on_!" She finally drawled, setting her sandwich down on the desk and wiping her hands on her pants. It was difficult, with the zip-ties holding her hands together. "All I did was take something they were _finished with!_ It was just gunna get thrown away!"

"I'm not talking about today. I'm talking about the fifty-odd offences in this folder," Lee said, slamming a finger down on it. He began shuffling through them.

"Petty theft, attempted robbery, evading the law, and my personal favorite, _assaulting a police officer,_ " Lee said with… what looked like contentment.

"Seriously!" Kona said, spinning in her chair to look for Harada. "I barely even hit you!" she yelled, and several officers looked up. None of them was Harada.

She huffed back against the chair, finding Lee standing. He came around the desk and leaned against it so that he was towering over her.

"Korikona," Lee began.

"That's not my name," she snapped back.

Lee sighed. "Kona," he said. "I don't think you understand how much trouble you're in."

"No, I'm aware," she said, looking away and out the window. The sun was beginning to set, and the city neons were starting to illuminate the buildings around the police station.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and when she looked back, Lee was leaning right in her face. She pulled back, but his hand on her shoulder felt like a claw.

"There are ways we can fix this," Lee said in a low growl. She didn't like the way he said it. Like she would… have to do… _something_ for him.

 **"Kona."**

 _M?_ she thought. Talking to herself was probably not a good tactical move right now.

 **"Kona; take a deep breath, and close your eyes."**

 _Why?_

 **"I don't think you want to find out what he meant when he said that. Just** _ **do it."**_

Kona closed her eyes, Lee still leaning right in her face, and inhaled sharply.

She felt a strange sensation then… like someone intertwining their fingers in hers and then grabbing hold tight. Then it spread, feeling like something wrapped around her and started constricting. When it stopped, she felt a flood of emotions—rage, gratification, pure joy. All mixed together.

That's when it happened. She opened her eyes, but… _she_ hadn't opened them. She then rocketed forward out of the chair, using the zip ties on her wrists to strike Lee in the throat. But… she hadn't done any of it. She hadn't told her body to get up, hadn't meant to attack Lee. It was like someone was driving her body like a car and she was watching with horror from the passenger seat.

 _What is happening!_ She tried to yell, but her lips didn't move.

Lee reacted immediately, trying to fight her off, but it was like she was built out of iron. He couldn't make her budge. Him, a 200-something pound athletic man, couldn't fight off an underfed homeless girl.

Yelling erupted from all around her, and the other officers closed in.

Without meaning to, she yanked Lee to the side, tossing him to the ground like she would tissue paper. She snapped the zip ties simply by pulling her hands apart, and felt nothing when they broke. She leaned down and grabbed her backpack, throwing it over her shoulder and stalking toward the door.

"Stop right there!" a female officer yelled, firing her Taser right at Kona's chest.

With speed that wasn't even possible, Kona reached up and grabbed the Taser's probes as they flew through the air. She felt nothing, despite the crackling of electricity she could hear in the probes and wires.

She yanked them forward, pulling the Taser from the officer's hand and dropping it. Kona slammed the woman hard in the chest with a fist, downing her easily. She spun around to find several more officers firing at her. She held up a hand, and every projectile heading her way suddenly dusted, disappearing in mid-air.

 _What the hell is going on!_ She tried to scream. The officers were so stunned that it gave her… or, _her body_ time to bolt from the room, running… way faster than possible… down the long hallway. Straight for a dead-end and a window.

 _Wait a minute!_ She thought loudly. She distinctly felt that she was running for the window.

 _That's a two-story drop!_ She tried again, to no response.

With terror running through her out-of-control mind, she hurled herself through the window in a tight ball.

She wanted to scream, claw at the windowsill, do _something._ But she simply fell.

And just when she was positive she was going to break both legs, she came to a stop. Hovering. Just inches above the ground.

 _Oh my GOD!_ The sheer terror running through her would have had her shaking like a leaf… if she could even access her own body.

She dropped lightly back to the ground, and then took off in the direction of the old north end. She could hear sirens blaring behind her, but they disappeared rather quickly. In fact, everything did. She had to be running at thirty, maybe even forty miles an hour.

 _This isn't possible, this isn't possible…_

Within minutes, she found herself leaping through the window at the Portal, without using the dumpster. She finally slowed, and felt whatever pressure had enveloped her begin to leave. Feeling returned to her fingertips, sensation to her skin. And with a gasp, she collapsed onto her bed.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

"What… THE FUCK… _was that!_ " Kona screamed, hearing her voice echo throughout the theater.

Silence.

"Seriously, M, what the hell just happened?" she yelled again.

More silence.

"Answer me!" she screamed.

 **"Give me… a moment,"** he responded finally, sounding strained.

"No. Not this time. That was some exorcist shit. You tell me what just happened, or I'm gunna go find that drill to run through my temple. Maybe that would get rid of you."

 **"No, that would… get rid… of** _ **you,**_ **"** he said. He sounded distant. **"But I digress. I used your body."**

"You… used… my body… YOU CAN DO THAT? _That wasn't part of the deal_! If I'd known that you were going to drive me around like a new Porsche, then I would have told you to go to hell!"

 **"I'm already there,"** he snapped back angrily. **"And a 'thank you' might be in order, I'm not sure how** _ **you**_ **were planning to get out of that… predicament."**

She panted, regaining her breath. She was silent for a long time, simply thinking about… everything.

"Hold up…" she said finally. "Did I… _fly?"_

He actually laughed.

 **"Yes, I can do that."**

"And I… stopped those bullets… LIKE NEO!" she yelled, actually excited.

 **"Keep your voice down. You may be in an abandoned building, but that doesn't mean they won't come looking for you here. And who is Neo?"**

"Nobody, it's a… movie. I disintegrated bullets?!" she gasped, smiling.

 **"Technically. The last time I was in your world, I gained the ability to digitize objects. I simply reduced them to code. And raw code cannot survive in your world. It would need a synthesizer of some kind, like the one I first used to come to your world. So they were simply transported into my world."**

Her anger began to boil away, and she suddenly felt very giddy. Like she had been shot with a thousand grams of adrenaline.

"Why do I feel like I could parkour the Space Needle?" she asked with a smile.

He scoffed.

 **"Remnants of my power,"** he said, sounding quiet.

"This is like… the best high _ever._ Do you always feel like this?" she asked, pacing the room.

 **"When I'm not dying, yes."**

Right. She still had work to do.

"I think I figured out what that thing is," she said, pulling one of the library books from her bag.

When he didn't respond, she continued. "It's an antivirus. Simple, really. It's a timed program. It activates on a schedule. How often does that happen to you?"

He was silent for a moment.

 **"Every morning, at sunrise"** he said, so quietly she barely heard him.

 _Whoa_.

"And time is equal, right? One day here is one day there?" she asked, pulling her computer from her bag and booting it.

 **"Yes,"** he said.

"How long have you been… trapped like this? Before you found me?" she asked, wondering if constant destruction of a code would eventually irreparably damage it.

He sighed. **"Years."**

"Years?!" she exclaimed. "That's… a lot. Can you bring me there again?"

 **"I'll try. Taking over you was… taxing. Find the code and keep your hands on the computer."**

She did as she was told, and just like last time, the world around her spun, sucking her in.

She found herself in the same hallway as last time, but she knew where to go this time. She grabbed the computer and ran down the hallway, up the stairs, through the foyer, up more stairs, and to the left.

She found him lying motionless in his coffin, eyes closed, his entire body shaking… no, more like… blinking. His image wasn't steady.

"M?" she asked, kneeling next to him.

He didn't react or open his eyes, but he did answer.

 **"I'm here,"** he said, his voice sounding metallic and broken. **"Just… very weak. Tell me what you've discovered."**

"Well… I studied the coding," she began, sitting next to the coffin and opening the laptop. "I don't know enough about it to remove it completely. I worry what fail-safes are built into it to prevent it from being disabled. But I can start by removing the timestamp, which will stop it from operating on the schedule. Then, at least I'll have more time."

 **"If you think it will work,"** he said, his image beginning to solidify. He opened his eyes, looking pained.

Kona took a deep breath, peering out the window. The sun had just set. That meant she had all night before it happened again. She found his code in the real-time sequence, highlighting the antivirus and opening its code in a new window.

"Here goes nothing," she squeaked.

She highlighted the second half of the code, which she was almost positive was the timestamp. She took a deep breath, pressing delete.

She looked up at him as he sat up, pure fear on his features.

 **"Did it wo…"**

He was interrupted.

The black flames erupted around him, and Kona had to back away. He screamed, writhing and falling back.

"Oh, no. No, no, no…" she gasped, trying to remember the sequence. Deleting it must have triggered it. If she could replace what she had deleted, it might fix it.

"Hold on," she yelped, typing frantically.

His screams turned to that piercing screech again, filling the room and hurting her ears. His flesh was beginning to peel away, the bones in his fingers grasping the side of the coffin.

 **"Stop it,** _ **PLEASE!"**_ his voice broke through the screeching.

"I'm trying, just fight it. Just a little longer…" she begged, typing frantically. "Almost…"

The screeching became unbearable, and his skeleton crawled from the coffin, collapsing on the stone floor and reaching out toward her. His sharp, bony fingers clawed at the stone, making hatch marks in fives. It seemed like he stayed that way for a long time.

Before she could finish, his bones dusted, leaving the room eerily silent.

"No!" Kona screamed, typing the last of the code. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," she sobbed, her voice bouncing around the now empty room.

She sniffed, wiping away a tear. "Now what?" she whispered, wondering how long it would take for him to come back.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8_

When he didn't return immediately, Kona decided to look around. After all, she was _in_ another world, and had only ever seen this castle.

She left her computer and went outside. The forest was strange, overgrown, and dark… but there was nothing unnatural about it. Like she could be standing in any forest in her world. She shuffled through her pockets, finding her switchblade, and making X marks on trees as she passed them. Wouldn't want to get lost in the digital world.

It was oddly silent. There wasn't ambient noise like there was in her world—no birds, no wind, nothing. She shivered, finding it eerie.

She yelped as something emerged from the forest to her left. She backed away toward the castle, but paused realizing the thing was…

 _A unicorn?_

It was a light gray color, with long black wings and a flaxen mane and tail. Some kind of red metal battle helmet resided over its head, spanning the length of its horn. Its ears were much longer than a horse's, standing tall above its head like rabbit ears.

"Hello," it said, bowing its head. It sounded genuine enough.

"Uh… hi," she said, taking a step forward.

"You're human. We haven't seen one of you in a long time," it said, smiling.

A unicorn. Smiled. Kona grinned to herself, imagining she might start farting rainbows any minute.

"I am Unimon. It's a pleasure to have you here. Why are you here?" it said, tilting its head.

"Um… I was just… in the castle…"

"The castle!" a tiny voice erupted, and some kind of… walking tulip emerged from behind Unimon. "You were in the castle?"

"Yeah, I was just…" she began, perplexed that she was actually talking to a unicorn and a flower.

"Stay away from that castle!" the flower yelped, cowering behind Unimon's hind leg. "Lord Myotismon is in there! He's evil! He's…" the flower continued to cower, hiding farther behind Unimon.

Unimon snorted, pawing the ground with a front hoof. "You'll have to excuse Floramon. She was once enslaved by Lord Myotismon. But she's right. If you know what's good for you, stay away from him. Now, we must go," Unimon paused, looking past her and toward the castle. "We're too close as it is. Farewell… what is your name?"

"Kona…"

"Farewell, Kona. Whatever you are here for, may you find success."

Unimon bowed, turning to walk slowly into the forest with Floramon.

 _Myotismon, huh?_ LORD _Myotismon. And they're all terrified of him. I mean, he told me he was the bad guy, but… what did I get myself into…_

She found her way back to the castle. She wandered around inside, wondering what the rest was like. In the opposite wing, she found a giant library, with scrolls galore. She shuffled through them and found histories, letters, even what seemed like fiction. She pulled one of the histories, unravelling it and scrolling through:

 _Second Age, red moon. The Seven fated children have defeated Devimon. They remain unaware of the existence of an eighth. The prophecy states that is the eighth that will destroy Myotismon…_

She rolled it back up, pulling another.

 _Second Age, black moon. The eighth child has been united with her Digimon in the analog world. The pair have indeed defeated Myotismon, but his evil persists. It has not returned to the Digital World. How it is surviving in the analog world is a mystery._

She replaced the scroll, returning to his room and finding him returned once again, lying on the ground where he had disappeared. The hatch marks on the stone beneath him were a horrifying reminder of how he had left. He was deathly still.

"M?" she said.

He didn't move. She knelt next to him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

He yelped, pushing away from her.

 **"Don't!"** he cried, wincing.

"I… I'm sorry. I'm so, _so_ sorry. I guess when I deleted the code, it automatically triggered it. I didn't know that would happen.

 **"It's… it's fine,"** he responded. He tried to push himself up, but his arms collapsed. **"You were trying…"** his voice trailed off, and an animalistic sound escaped him.

Kona sighed, pulling the sleeve on her left arm up to the elbow and offering it to him.

"Here," she said quietly. He looked at her outstretched arm, then in her eyes questioningly.

"It made you stronger last time, right? Take it," she said, shoving her arm toward him again.

 **"I thought that was off-limits,"** he said, turning his head away from her.

"It… was. But I'm the reason you're… I'm the reason it happened. So the least I can do is help."

He narrowed his eyes at her. He took her wrist in his hand, pulling it to his lips. He paused, something flashing through his eyes. He was actually… hesitating.

He was much gentler this time. Instead of awful pain, she felt a small sting, like getting a flu shot. He drank for only moments, then pushed her away, lying back on the stone floor.

 **"I shouldn't take any more. I could… hurt you,"** he mumbled, taking a deep breath. He already sounded much stronger.

 _Well that's really… considerate._

 **"I am called Myotismon,"** he said after a time, continuing to lie on the floor. She grinned to herself. _He trusts me._

"I know," she said, and he lifted his head to look at her. "I did some exploring, while you were… _gone._ I met some other Digimon out in the forest, and they… knew who you were."

He smiled, his fangs glimmering when he did. He leaned up, sitting just opposite her.

 **"And I can assume they had some positive things to say about me?"** he asked with obvious sarcasm.

She grinned. "Very. _Evil_ , I believe is the word they used."

He nodded, pushing himself to his feet and… actually offering her a hand.

She took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

"I kind of… prefer M," she said, brushing her pants free of dust.

 **"Whatever you like,"** he said, turning away from her.

She looked down, finding the hatch marks his bones had made. She shivered.

"It took a lot longer to destroy you this time," she said timidly.

He took a deep breath. **"Yes, that's because you told me to fight it. I usually don't. I thought if I held it off, you would be… able to stop it."** He shivered, rubbing his temples.

"Well, I'll get back to work then," she said, grabbing her laptop and plopping down next to the coffin and leaning against it. "Unfortunately, I had to replace the antivirus's code, to make sure I didn't trigger it again. So… it'll happen again at sunrise. I'll work as fast as I can. Hopefully figure it out before it does."

He turned, looking down at her with… affection?

 **"Thank you,"** he said genuinely.

She accessed the digital world's code once again, this time going back to the earliest appearances of Myotismon's code.

"So," she began, looking up and finding him pacing once again, one hand rubbing his temple. "Some of you… _Digimon_ are humanoid, some of you aren't. Why?" she asked.

He stopped pacing, looking at her with furrowed brows. **"That's an odd question. Your world has different types, does it not?"**

"I guess. We call them animals," she said. "But they don't talk."

He continued his pacing.

She located one of the earliest appearances of his code. Before he ever fought the Digidestined.

"How do you know so much about my world? And, yours for that matter? You know exactly what kind of code you are, you know about the digital world's… it's kind of all-knowing," she said, zooming in to Myotismon's early code and scrolling through it.

 **"I told you, I've been to your world, on more than one occasion. And I've… had other hosts. I've spent time learning."**

Kona thought she remembered him mentioning he had possessed others before. And, the scroll… " _how it is surviving in the analog world is a mystery."_

"What happened to your last host?" she asked.

Myotismon halted abruptly, his eyes diverting away from her.

 **"He's gone,"** he said gingerly.

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?" she asked, pausing from her work. Worry began to rise in her stomach like butterflies.

 **"Yukio was a very broken and depressed man,"** he said, keeping his back to her. **"I used his grief to control him, and get back to the digital world. I thought I succeeded, but instead we were both transported to a… different world. And when I separated from him in that world, the new Digidestined were there to stop me again. But separating from him…"**

He paused, sighing.

"What?" she asked, trying to look him in the eyes but failing.

 **"Separating from him killed him,"** Myotismon said finally, still rubbing his temple.

"WHAT?!" she yelled, rocketing to her feet. Myotismon winced, the sound obviously bringing him pain. She didn't care. "He _died!_ You're telling me that I am going to do all this for you, and when you leave me, _I'll die!_ " she screamed.

He grasped his head with both hands. **"Please stop yelling,"** he begged. **"Yukio was damaged before I ever possessed him. It was that weakness that I exploited, which made it worse. And when my power left him, he wasn't able to recover. But you're** _ **not**_ **. I'm not using you like I di…"**

"Yes you are!" she yelled.

 **"No, I'm not exploiting any weaknesses in you. In fact, you don't seem to have any,"** he paused, turning and leaning against the wall. He slid down the wall to sit in a heap, still grasping his temples.

 **"Therefore, I can't make those weaknesses worse.** _ **That's**_ **what killed him, not me."**

"But you're not certain. I might be doing all this, and what's the thanks I'll get? _Death?"_

 **"** _ **Fine, then leave,"**_ he snarled. **"But please stop yelling."**

He was shaking again, and Kona made herself take a deep breath. She huffed back to her computer and flopped back down, yanking it into her lap and burying herself in it.

She studied his early code to distract herself, and found the gap that all early codes had. And as he conquered more and more of the digital world, consuming more code, the gap still remained. And when he returned after being defeated by the Digidestined…

 _The antivirus!_ The antivirus had filled the code gap.

"Huh…" she mumbled, zooming in again. This code wasn't right. It obviously didn't belong in his. But it must have… mimicked whatever code would have completed his. _Becoming_ his.

"Uh oh," she said, and he looked up at her from across the room. He didn't ask, however. Probably assuming that she didn't want to talk to him. He was partly right.

"The antivirus, it's…" she said, feeling her heart sink. She was still furious with him, but this… wasn't good news.

He still didn't speak.

"It's part of your code now," she said, and he simply stared at her. Waiting for her to say it.

"I can't remove it unless I replace it. Unless I figure out what was supposed to be there in the first place, and… your code is hundreds of digital years old… how am I supposed to figure that out, when you haven't been able to in hundreds of years?"

Myotismon's shoulders sank in defeat, and he buried his face in his hands. He made a vicious sound, like some kind of growl.

 **"I was afraid of that."**


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9_

Kona sighed, her heart sinking. It was basically a death sentence. A recurring death sentence.

She stood slowly, walking to him and kneeling in front of him. She took a chance, taking his hand.

His head snapped up and he stared at her. Everything was clear on his face—anger, terror, helplessness, regret.

"I said it would be difficult," she said quietly. "Not that I wouldn't try."

His hand twitched on hers, and his face changed to complete disbelief.

 **"But… it could kill you…"**

"Yeah, that part, I'm still really angry about. And I'm gunna work on that. But… I can't sit back and do nothing. It may take me a long time. Are you prepared to deal with that?" she asked, and the fear came back to his eyes.

He pulled his hand out of hers.

 **"About that,"** he said, looking away. **"I… will try as long as I can. To deal with it. But if it comes to it, and you don't think you can fix it…"**

His voice had become low and cryptic.

"What?" she asked.

 **"I can't do this forever. If the time comes when I can't anymore… I may ask you to end it."**

"What? What do you mean? You told me codes can't be destroyed, only reprogrammed," she responded.

 **"Not entirely true. Codes cannot destroy codes. But humans can.** _ **You**_ **can. You can kill me."**

"Kill you?!" she exclaimed, and he winced again. "Sorry. But… _me?!_ Destroy you? I thought… I was here to help…"

 **"Trust me, if you can't remove this,"** he motioned weakly to the collar on his neck. **"Then destroying me will be mercy."**

Kona fell back to sit on the stone floor. Technically, he was data. She wouldn't really be killing anything. Just eliminating a line of code. But the thought of destroying him… just easily deleting him… it was barbaric.

"I'm, uh…" she said, a thousand thoughts assaulting her. "I'm gunna go for a walk. Clear my head, try to…"

She didn't finish, just stood and walked out. He didn't speak, didn't try to stop her.

 _I shouldn't even care. He's annoying, sarcastic… he's a damn leech. He's evil. Everyone is terrified of him. He uses me like toilet paper, and he might even eventually kill me… but…_

"Uggghhh," she groaned loudly, wandering aimlessly through the castle. It was huge and winding, and everywhere she turned, it seemed to get colder.

 _But killing him? That's just… giving up. Both of us._

She decided to distract herself by thinking back on his code. The antivirus had been put in place when he was defeated in that… _other_ world M had mentioned. What other world? And how did it form the antivirus and imprison him? How did the Digidestined know what the antivirus needed to be in order to meld with his code? Or did they even know? Was it just a byproduct of them defeating him in some other world?

She found herself back in the library. She wandered, admiring how much it resembled a library she had seen in some Disney movie as a kid.

She found a scroll on the ground, seemingly fallen from a shelf. She huffed as she picked it up to put it back on the shelf.

The scroll fell open, and something fell out. Some kind of… tag.

She knelt and picked it up. It was black, with what looked like a purple yin/yang with three circles instead of two.

"Huh…" she mumbled, pocketing the tag. She opened the scroll and began reading.

 _To whom it may concern,_

 _I was wrong about the prophecy. I originally thought it predicted the arrival of the eight children. Well, it did, but there's more. The prophecy predicted that eight Digimon would be destined to pair with eight human children, and those eight pairs would be the protectors of the digital and analog worlds. I wrongly assumed this to mean that they were the ONLY Digimon destined to pair with humans. But others have come, others have paired with Digimon. This can only mean that the prophecy is limited, that it was only predicting this one event. I deduce that, perhaps… maybe more Digimon are meant for partners. Maybe… all of them are._

 _More research is needed. The Agents and I will look into this, if I can just locate them. If there are any left._

 _~Gennai._

"Who's Gennai?" Kona mumbled, letting the scroll roll back up. She looked all around where it had supposedly fallen from. There was nothing even remotely related. No mention of any Agents, no mention of Gennai, and nothing else on any more research done. Did this Gennai person succeed? Why was there no more information?

Kona huffed, pocketing the scroll as well, and heading back to Myotismon. When she entered his room, she found his coffin closed, and him sitting on top of it, cradling what looked like a very full glass of wine.

"There's digital… _wine?_ " she asked, perturbed that she didn't know about this.

He raised an eyebrow, raising a hand and tapping one of his fangs with a fingertip.

 **"This isn't wine,"** he said with a half-grin, obviously knowing it would gross her out.

And it did. "Oh. Ew," she said shortly, tossing the scroll onto the floor next to her computer.

"What's with that library? There's a _lot_ of information in there."

 **"It's an archive. When I was… back when I tried to conquer this world, I collected as much knowledge as I could. I had found a gateway from my world to yours, but I needed to figure out how to work it."**

"There's a gateway? Why didn't you say s…"

 **"Not anymore,"** he interrupted. **"It was destroyed by… an enemy, trying to keep me out."**

"Oh," Kona said, defeated. But it did remind her…

"That 'other world' you mentioned. The one you and Yukio were sent to. What was it?"

 **"The dream world. I think perhaps Yukio's one last shred of optimism sent us there."**

"There's a dream world? How many worlds are there?" she asked.

 **"I don't know,"** he said, taking a sip of his… drink. **"I believe there is a human philosopher who believes that there are infinite parallel universes to yours."**

Kona stared at him, bewildered. Did he know everything?

M shrugged. **"Yukio did a lot of reading."**

 _Wow_ , Kona mouthed. He was onto something though… Plato had predicted that there might be an infinite number of parallel universes, parallel _worlds_ , and in each was a parallel version of everything, or every _one_. Did that mean that… the digital world was one of Plato's many parallels, and that…

Every Digimon was a parallel of every person? Every human on Earth was a corresponding lifeform to every Digimon? It would be in line with this Gennai guy's theory…

At any rate, all of this thinking made her head hurt. And her stomach growl.

"Ugghh… there's digital food, right?" she moaned.

He grinned, his fangs gleaming again. **"Come with me."**


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10_

Myotismon led her down to the main level, down a few hallways, and into a massive dining hall. The room was big enough to require three chandeliers hanging elegantly above a long dining table. The walls were lined with colored tapestries. The table ran the length of the entire room, but there were only two chairs, one on each end.

 _"Mother Francis,"_ Kona gasped, whistling. It was impressive, to say the least.

M giggled, leading her to the end of the table, where a banquet of foods sat, just waiting.

"What a dump you live in, M," she said, grabbing a roll and biting into it.

The smile faded from his face. **"It's a prison. If you lived and died here every day, you would think so too. Doesn't matter how beautiful it is."**

Kona nodded solemnly, pulling the chair out and sitting. "So this just sits here? All this food? Doesn't it go bad…" she paused, realizing how stupid that sounded.

 **"Yes, this** _ **digital food**_ **is going to go bad,"** M said with a crooked grin, leaning against the wall and sipping his drink.

"Shut up," she said, stuffing more in her mouth. She motioned to the spread. "You don't partake?"

He didn't respond—instead he held up his glass, as if to toast her, and took another drink.

"So then… why is this all here?" she asked through a mouthful of food.

Myotismon licked a spot of blood from his lip. **"Irony?"**

Kona smiled.

Myotismon rearranged, watching her intently.

"What?" she asked.

 **"Tell me about that address. The one on your library card,"** he said.

Kona paused, setting her food down.

 **"I know you don't want to—that you try very hard not to think about it. In fact, you do a fairly decent job of it. I never saw much of it, even when I was in your mind. But we may very well be the death of each other. Might as well…"**

He had a point.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself. She wiped her hands on her pants, more out of anxiety than anything.

"My birth parents died when I was really young. I floated around the system for a long time. I got really… bitter, waiting for a new family. As you've probably seen, I'm kind of… a handful. A couple of families came along, but none of them could handle me. They kept sending me back. Like returning shoes to a store. They kept walking on me, but never keeping me. I got really angry, you know… wondering what was so wrong with me. Why did none of them want me?

"When I was fourteen, this couple took me in. Reena and Owen Seuhlo. They had never fostered before, never had kids of their own. I just knew it wouldn't stick. That they would return me, just like everyone else. No way first-time parents could handle a train-wreck. They never said anything like that, I just… got the feeling, you know.

"So one night, I got really upset, packed my stuff in my backpack, and ran away. I just kept running through the city. The city I'm in now—Odaiba. I ran for days, not able to stop. I was just… panicking. But I finally stopped. I got scared. I mean, I've always been on my own, but… I decided to go back.

"But when I got closer, something was happening. There was this really thick fog, and I couldn't find my way. I went around in circles… I had only lived with them for a few months, I didn't remember my way back. But I finally did find my way back…"

She swallowed her dread, telling herself she wouldn't cry this time.

"Something had happened while I was gone. Some kind of… disaster. Half of Odaiba Bay had been destroyed… including… their house. I tried to go back, but there was nothing to go back to. And ever since then, it's haunted me. What if they actually wanted me? What if I left them, and then they died thinking that _I didn't want them._ It's a terrible feeling, knowing you're not wanted. And since then, I…"

Damn tears. They came every time. She wiped them away with her sleeve quickly.

She looked over at him, finding him looking… mortified.

"What?" she asked.

He took a deep breath, walking forward slowly, setting his glass on the table. His eyes were distant.

"What?!" she asked again.

 **"That… that was me,"** he said, his voice shaking. **"When I… came to your world. They tried to destroy me, and only made me stronger. I evolved… I became a monster. Our battle, it… it destroyed Odaiba."**

Kona felt a lump in her throat. Shock mixed with rage.

"You… _you_ did that?" she asked, her voice low.

He nodded slowly.

Her entire body, her entire brain locked up. The one pivotal moment in her life. The moment everything changed. And it was _him._

Kona stood, facing him. "I… I want to go home. My world," she said, pushing the chair away and walking for the door.

 **"Kona, please don't…"**

"I said I want to go home!" she yelled, spinning back wildly to face him. "Everything shitty that's _ever_ happened to me… every series of events that put me where I am… it was _all you._ You bring nothing but harm. Now send me back, or I'll find my own way."

He closed his eyes, his shoulders falling. The room began to spin, swallowing her up like it always did and spitting her back out on her pile of sleeping bags and ratty winter coats.

Her rage and anguish began to boil over, and she found herself struggling to breathe. She could have… had a family. If she had gone back, just given it more time. And she'd been prepared to give them more time. And they died… knowing she had left them there. And it was _his fault._ She grabbed a handful of sleeping bags, buried her face in her pillow, and she screamed as hard as she could.


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11_

Kona fell into a daze. She didn't remember doing it, but apparently in her anger she had ransacked her own room. Kicked the sleeping bags, tore Naru off the wall, tossed her pillow clear out into the theater.

It took days for her rage to settle, and even then, she kept thinking back and making herself angry again. She didn't speak to M, and he never attempted to speak to her. She knew he was still there… why wouldn't he be?

She left the computer on, allowing the battery to die, so that she wouldn't be tempted by her curiosity. And for almost a month, she just let herself seethe.

It felt strange, returning to her old life. Like nothing had happened. Steal, eat, run, sleep, repeat. All the while knowing that so much more was out there. So much more… evil. Mental exhaustion had begun to catch up with her, and after almost two months of zombie-like living, she fell into an anxiety-ridden sleep. She found herself back in the digital world. She wandered aimlessly, never really bothering to figure out where she was. It was dark, as if it was night. The landscape around her was bland and common, and it helped her to just wander in silence.

A long time passed, and the digital world was as silent as ever. Kona found that she simply couldn't cry anymore. As if she'd used up her entire reserve of tears, and though she wanted to, just couldn't anymore.

She paused as the sun crested on the horizon. It was strange—the sun was different here. It was bright and orange and glowing, just like the one she knew, but… there was no warmth. Only light.

She jumped as she felt something… like something inside her clawing to get out… something banging on her bones as if they were prison bars. She yelped, looking down at her hands as they began to shake uncontrollably.

Black flames erupted all around her, all over her… within her. She screamed, falling to the ground. She tried to call for help, but her voice was somehow muted. She watched in horror as her flesh began to burn away, peeling back like so many Band-Aids. The terror it gave her made her very aware of own racing heart, which she could somehow feel burning.

Her flesh almost entirely burned away, and she watched in horror as she could see her own bones, her own muscles. She reached out, toward nothing… toward _something_ , hoping to find anything to save her.

Her hands of bone found nothing, and her sight began to go black. She could only assume her eyes were the next target.

She was proven right as her world went black, and she became distinctly aware of the sounds of her body burning, her bones crumbling. She cried out one final time, knowing no one would hear.

She jolted awake suddenly, finding herself drenched in sweat and briefly aware that she truly had been screaming. She wiped her hair out of her face, breathing hard as she desperately peered around the room to make sure she wasn't actually burning. She found sunlight pouring in the window, and she heaved a sigh, feeling her heart pounding against her chest.

 _Damn it,_ she thought, feeling her pity rise up again. She didn't want to feel sorry for him. She wanted him to pay for what he had done, to suffer for it. But that… that was too much. And months had passed, which meant…

She yelped as she heard someone calling her name in the theater. She leapt up, pulling her switchblade and peeking out the door.

She found Officer Harada and two other officers walking down the hallway toward her.

Kona rocketed back into her room, grabbing her backpack on the run and heading for the window.

"Kona!" Harada yelled as he ran into the room, intercepting her and grabbing her. He wrapped his arms around her, locking her arms to her sides and trying to pull her back. She struggled hard, kicking her legs out.

"Kona, stop!" Harada growled, managing to hold her. "You're not in trouble, just… take…a… breath!"

She stopped, huffing a sigh and relaxing.

"Ok, I'm going to release you, please don't jump out the window. I just want to talk to you," Harada said, his grip on her loosening.

"Fine," she grumbled, knowing he was probably lying to calm her down.

He released her, and she shoved him back, fixing her wild hair and keeping her eyes diverted.

Harada didn't immediately start yammering like he usually did. He looked around the room, a sadness in his eyes.

"Yeah, I know, it's a dump," she said, still trying to tame her mane. A few wild sprigs had popped out of her braids and she couldn't seem to make them lay down.

"No, it's…" Harada began quietly. He removed his belt with his gun and Taser, setting them on the ground as a show of faith… or something. "Homely. You made it your own."

Kona shrugged, longing for the window.

"Look, kid," Harada said, stepping away from his belt. "What you did at the station…"

She had almost forgotten… when M possessed her body, she had attacked two officers and disintegrated bullets… in front of everyone.

"I'm not gunna pretend to know what happened," Harada continued. "But I know you. You're not like that. And I know what Lee said to you, what he… suggested. He's been put on unpaid leave while he's investigated, and I'm certain he won't be coming back to the force."

Kona finally looked at him. What was he getting at?

"About two weeks ago, our entire system went down," Harada said. "Every computer, every cell phone."

 _Uh oh…_

"All except mine," Harada said with narrowed eyes. "While the system was down, I received an email. A strange email with no sender. It contained a recording of Lee's webcam, which showed me everything. And it also contained this—"

Harada held up an iPad with digitized newspaper clippings. She reached for it, and Harada allowed her to take it. She began to scroll through, reading only the headlines to save time.

 **Survivors of Odaiba Disaster Gather at the Community Center.**

 **Missing Persons List Continues to Grow, Citizens Lose Hope.**

 **Cleanup Efforts Receive Boost from Local Couple.**

 **Beneficiaries Come Forward.**

 **Devastated Couple Continue Search for Missing Daughter…**

Kona paused, her heart jumping into her throat. _This… this can't be…_

 **Two Years After Odaiba Disaster, Couple Refuses to Give Up Hope.**

Kona's hand flew to her mouth as she choked back a sob. Harada watched her solemnly. The tears started again.

Beneath the headline was a picture of Owen and Reena Seuhlo. They looked devastated, Reena crying into Owen's chest as he spoke to the media. And in the picture's caption, it read 'Reena and Owen Seuhlo address reporters about the daughter they lost in the Odaiba Disaster.

 _Their daughter. They considered her their daughter._

"They…" Kona choked, her cheeks hot as tears fell down and dripped from her chin. _"They lived?"_

"Yes," Harada said. He stepped forward, laying a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "I went ahead and located their contact information. I know this is probably really overwhelming, and you don't know what to make of it right now. You need time, and that's understandable. So when you're ready, come find me at the station. No one will arrest you, just ask for me."

Kona sniffed, wiping her running nose on her sleeve. "Why…" she was interrupted by a sob, which she choked back. "Why are you… why do you care?"

Harada narrowed his eyes, looking hurt. "Of course I care. You're a good kid, Kona. You're smart, really smart, and you've just come on some hard times. And if I can fix it, instead of just locking you up, of course I would prefer that. It's my job to serve and protect, not condemn…"

Kona looked at him genuinely, seeing him for the first time. He was an older man, but still good-looking. His hair had begun to gray, but his face was creased with smile lines. She wasn't sure how she could tell, but she knew he was a father. And a good one.

"Thank you," she squeaked, wiping her nose again.

He patted her shoulder again. She handed him the iPad back, and tried to smile.

He nodded, turning to go. "Come on boys," Harada said, grabbing his belt from the floor and disappearing into the hall. Kona could hear their footsteps as they faded into the theater.

She stared at the door for the longest time, so many emotions running through her. They were _alive._ And even though she had only been with them for a few months, they thought of her as their daughter. And they searched for her like she was their daughter. If she hadn't ran, hadn't gone to Tokyo… maybe things would be different.

And Harada. He cared enough to bring her that information. He had…

 _He got it from a strange email. One with no sender…_

 _M._


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter 12_

Kona had never run faster in her life. She ran into people, ran across streets in the middle of traffic. Anything she had to do to get to the library. She had to charge the computer and get back. It had been months. _Months._ She felt guilty, having let it go that far. It would have been kinder to just kill him.

She punished herself by running even faster. Her throat burned from the exertion, but she didn't care. She didn't even slow as she entered the library. Let them try to approach her.

 _M?_ she thought, trying to make her thoughts loud. She hadn't heard a peep from him since she left.

No answer.

She plugged her computer in and fidgeted while it booted. She didn't know if she could get back without him. To her knowledge, it had been him pulling her in every time.

All of her windows that had been open when she let it die reappeared, showing her the zoomed-in copy of Myotismon's code. And the antivirus.

She stared at it, pulling the book on binary code out of her bag. She flipped through it, finding a section describing the binary connection to the alphabet. Binary was simple; in a series of eight digits that consisted of only 0s and 1s, the different sequences signified different things. 01000001 represented A, and from then on, the order of the ones and zeroes changed, signifying different letters. Kona flipped to the chart in the binary book, wondering if perhaps the binary antivirus in M's code spelled something.

It took her a moment to go through it, but when she finished, she found that there were 32 digits. Four letters. And they spelled H.A.L.T.

Something about that sounded familiar… an old programmer's tale about…

A command. A…

 _Halt and catch fire command…._

She tossed the binary book aside, reaching for the book on computer programming. She read through it frantically, already knowing she had found the right one.

 _Halt and Catch Fire is a code instruction that causes the computer's processing unit to cease meaningful operation, typically requiring a restart. The command functions in such a way that it is impossible for the system to recover without a restart._

"Oh my God, this is it…" she mumbled. That explained why it kept killing him and bringing him back. He was stuck in a restart loop. Halt and catch fire usually applied to machines, not codes, but… this could be it…

Now if she could just get back to the digital world. She laid both hands on the computer, closing her eyes and willing it. Maybe it wasn't him, maybe it was something with her computer, and her…

She peeked an eye open, finding herself still sitting in the library, surrounded by self-absorbed people.

She groaned, frustrated, calling out for him again. _M?!_ Why wasn't he answering?

Something popped into her head then, and her curiosity piqued. She reached into her right pocket…

And found the tag that had fallen from Gennai's scroll. It seemed to have changed shape in her world. In the digital world, it had been a square tag… a piece of something. Here, it looked like… _a USB!_

She slammed it into her computer's USB port, keeping her fingers pinched on it. With complete relief and exhilaration, she found the world spinning around her, swallowing her up.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13_

She didn't end up in the castle this time. She was in the forest, a tree residing right next to her with an 'X' carved into it. But the X had begun to heal into the bark, making it barely noticeable.

She scooped up her computer and the tag, both of which had made the journey with her, and ran through the forest, following the X's. "M!" she called.

Nothing but her breath.

She passed the last one, sliding to a stop as her heart sank.

The castle was half demolished. The front entryway was gone, and only the foyer and stairs remained. The grand chandelier lay in pieces in what used to be the foyer.

"Oh, no… _M?!"_ she screamed, dropping her computer, pocketing the tag, and running through the rubble. Her heart leapt into her throat as she spotted his coffin. She crawled through ruins, tossing rocks and stone aside and ripping it open.

Nothing.

"Damn it!" she cursed, standing and looking around.

Before she could keep looking, something hit her like a freight train. She was thrown back into the rubble, her back slamming into what probably used to be a wall. She cried out, wincing as pain ran up her spine.

 _ **"How dare you."**_

Myotismon stood over her, more vicious than she had ever seen him. His eyes were mad and wild, and blood was dripping from each hand.

 _I hope that's not mine_ , she thought, rubbing the back of her head. "M?!"

He leapt at her, grabbing her by the throat and dragging her to her feet. He didn't squeeze, but he held her tight enough to scare her. She choked against him, clawing at his arm. His entire body shook like a leaf, and she was distinctly aware that he was trying very hard _not_ to rip her throat out.

 _ **"How dare you come back now,"**_ he snarled. _**"If you were so angry at me, why wouldn't you just kill me?!"**_

His grip loosened to allow her to answer.

"I _was_ angry," she choked. "And I wanted you to pay. I wanted you to suffer…"

His grip tightened again. He opened his mouth wide and hissed like a snake mere centimeters from her face, his fangs glimmering.

 _ **"Well you got what you wanted,"**_ he growled. She swore she could see tears forming in his ice blue eyes. **"Now end it. If you have any humanity left,** _ **kill me."**_

He threw her to the ground, turning away and grasping handfuls of his own hair. The blood on his hands smeared in the blond, and Kona could see it now. His hands were cut and raw.

She looked around at the rubble all around her, finding hundreds of the same hatch marks his bones had made on the floor. "Did… did you do this?" she murmured. "Did you tear it down? _With your bare hands?"_

He turned toward her slowly, obviously trying not to be overcome by his anger again.

 **"I went mad, I… passed my limit. And I** _ **needed**_ **your help. And I knew that you… would never…"**

He grasped his hair again, closing his eyes and growling like a wolf. He collapsed to his knees, rocking back and forth. Part of Kona wondered if this was it—if his code had been irreparably damaged.

She stood, wincing at the pain in her back.

"You… you sent Harada that data… the stuff about… my…"

She couldn't call them parents. Not yet. But they were her chance.

He took a deep breath, his entire body shuddering as he did. He didn't look up at her though.

 **"It was my only chance to make things right,"** he said with cold passivity.

"Thank you," she said, kneeling in front of him. "Now let me help you. _Really._ "

He nodded 'no,' burying his head in his hands.

 **"I can't. I can't, I can't…"**

Pity welled up in Kona again, causing a lump in her throat that made it difficult to speak.

"You can; you're stronger than you think. But I'll make you a deal. If I can't release you before tomorrow morning, then I'll end it. But let me try. One last time," she said, her voice breaking.

He took a deep breath, looking up at her. His eyes were sad, but… somehow still hopeful.

He nodded meekly. She stood, holding out a hand to him.

When he reached to take it, something white struck his wrist, passing right through it. Both of them yelped as he yanked his hand back and turned in the direction of the projectile.

A young human woman stood at the base of the rubble, an angel standing next to her.


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter 14_

"Step away from him, young lady," the angel said, her voice like bells.

"He's dangerous," the human said. She was a beautiful young woman with short brunette hair and bangs that were pinned out of her face. She wore a green sweater and white skirt, and had a very kindly look about her.

"I know," Kona said, without stepping away. "It's something we have in common," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Who are you?"

 **"Kari,"** Myotismon said, clutching his arm where the angel's attack had gone through. **"The eighth Digidestined."**

"He accessed my world," Kari said. "His virus attacked a police station. Angewomon and I have dedicated ourselves to ensuring his continued imprisonment. I will never let his evil spread again."

"He did that… he did that to help me," Kona said, taking a step toward them and placing herself between the angel and M.

"It doesn't matter," Kari replied quickly. "His motivations have never, and _will_ never justify his actions. Step aside."

"No," Kona said, standing her ground. "I'm not letting anything or anyone hurt him ever again."

The angel grunted in anger, pouncing lithely into the air. Wings sprouted from her wrists, forming a bow. She drew an arrow of pure light out of thin air, aiming at M.

Kona felt something vibrating in her pocket. Furrowing her brow, she pulled out the tag. The symbol was glowing deep purple as it vibrated in her hand.

She didn't have time to dwell long. Angewomon fired, the arrow heading straight for M, and he didn't look inclined to fight or flee. He looked resolved to dying. Again.

"No!" Kona screamed, flinging herself toward him, placing herself between him and the arrow.

 **"Kona, don't!"** M yelled, leaping to his feet.

A blinding white light erupted from Myotismon, enveloping Kona and swallowing Angewomon's arrow.

What emerged was… magnificent. M had changed, yet remained the same. His pale skin, blue eyes, and pointed ears remained, but he had changed completely. He was clad in all black, a white cravat around his neck and red bandolier with gold adornments spanning his chest. His hair was much longer, but it was pulled back in an aristocratic ponytail. Elegant gold ear cuffs covered his pointed ears, and he held an epee sword. He wore silver armored thigh boots, and protruding from his back were massive black bat wings. A military-style epaulette hung from his left shoulder, and on his right, there was no skull and crossbones, but a simple 'X'. Much like the ones Kona had made on the trees to find her way back. There was no mask covering his eyes, revealing a truly handsome, human-looking face. And overhanging his lips were his signature fangs.

He launched forward, using his wings to propel him. He enveloped Kona in one arm, lunging with his other and shattering Angewomon's arrow with the sword. He retreated then, holding Kona against his chest as he flew back, off of the rubble and onto the ground. He released her, leaning back and running a hand over her hair.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

His voice was… different, but the same. He sounded exactly as he had, but he was completely void of anger, pain, regret.

"Uhhhh, you are like… _hella_ gorgeous," Kona gasped, and he laughed hard.

"Oh my God, I said that out loud. I meant… majestic. Majestic as fuck," she recovered, feeling her face warm.

"Dandimon?" Angewomon asked, floating to the ground before him. He tensed, pulling Kona back toward him. "You Digivolved. But… this isn't your next form…" Angewomon continued, confusion clear.

Kona felt the vibration in her hand, looking down to see the crest positively glowing. M looked down, reaching out and taking it.

He winced, taking a step back. With horror, Kona could see the collar around his neck still remained.

"No!" Kona gasped, stepping forward.

Sparks shot from the collar, and a crack split it right up the center. With a _click_ , it snapped in half, falling to the ground with a metallic _clank._

M gasped, rubbing his neck and staring at the collar for a long time. When he moved, he opened his hand to look at the tag.

"The crest of Illusions," Angewomon said, stepping forward to look at it. He looked up at her, confusion clear on his features as well.

"Could it be…" Kona gasped, spinning on her heel and running for her computer. She slid on her knees to it, opening the code and finding M's. It was massive, the gap was gone, and the binary had shifted. It was still binary, but it spelled…

 _K.O.N.A._

She gasped. "It was me… _I'm the missing code gap._ It was me, all this time… I'm what was needed to complete… _you_ ," she said, looking up at him. "This means… this means Gennai was right. It wasn't just the Destined… I think this means all Digimon are meant for human partners. That's… why you went bad. You were desperate to find _me_ , and…"

Shock forced him to take a step back, and all he could do was look back down at the tag.

"That explains the collar," Angewomon chimed. "When the new Digidestined defeated you as MaloMyotismon in the dream world, I assumed that the collar was placed on you by _my_ dream of stopping you…" she paused, looking down lovingly at Kari. "But I was wrong. The dream world placed it on you due to _your dream_ of finding your partner, the gap in your code. That's why it was able to mimic the code you needed and fill the gap temporarily."

"And what's more, you're…" Kona paused, not believing it. "You're not a virus anymore. You're an _antivirus…_ "

M took a deep breath, finally looking up at her and tossing the tag to her. She caught it, smiling at how happy it made her feel. A deep lilac light burst from her computer screen, and she yelped backing away. The square shape of the machine began to morph, becoming smaller. When the light faded, a much smaller black and purple device sat in the dirt.

"A digivice," Kari said with a smile.

Kona picked it up. It was surprisingly heavy in her hand.

"You're… my partner," M said with a smile, sheathing the sword with a resounding metallic ring. "Imagine that."

Kari approached, looking skeptical but hopeful. "In that case… our job is done."

"What?" M asked, looking to Angewomon.

"Kari's right. You have what you needed to be complete. You're not a threat anymore. Though, I must admit, it will take me an eternity to forgive you," Angewomon said, looking down at her left hand.

M… or rather, _Dandimon_ took Angewomon's hand, knelt in front of her, and kissed it lightly. "And it will take me an eternity to earn it."

Kona swore she saw color come to Angewomon's cheeks, but it could have been the sun.

"And you're not the only one," Dandimon said, turning to Kona. "It seems I have a lot to make up for."

Kona smiled. "We both do," she said, setting the computer aside and standing. "I wonder, if your forms have changed… does… Myotismon still exist?"

He began to glow, his wings receding and his form changing. When the glow dissipated, the same old M stood before her. The skull and crossbones on his shoulders had been replaced with 'X's, but otherwise, he was the same. He looked down at his hands, taking a deep breath.

"Apparently he does," he said, turning to look at the rubble of his castle.

Kari approached Kona and held a hand out.

"I think thanks are in order," she said. Kona took her hand and shook it. "I know from experience how traumatizing it is for a Digimon to wander alone, never finding their partner…"

She looked up at Angwomon, and tears of affection fell from beneath the angel's helm.

"She spent a long time looking for me. He did the same, but he just… dealt with it differently. But you worked hard to remedy the damage done, and now instead of a lifelong enemy, we have…"

Kari looked at Myotismon. "A new ally. Thank you," Kari said, shaking Kona's hand again.

"Where do you live? In Odaiba?" Kari asked. "I would love to catch up, maybe get a coffee sometime."

Kona's heart fluttered, for more than one reason. _Where do you live._ She didn't know what to make of that question, as it might change very soon. And Kari… wanted to be friends. In the real world. Kona had never had one before.

"Well, I…" Kona began, scratching her head. "I do, I think. And that would mean a lot to me. Having… someone to talk to."

"Good, I would too," Kari said with a genuine smile. "But you will always have someone to talk to, even if I'm not there." She looked at Myotismon again. "Having a Digimon partner is one of the most meaningful things in my life. We complete their code, true, but they complete ours too. It's like having a soul mate."

Angewomon smiled, laying a hand on Kari's shoulder.

Kona looked at M, finding him content but exhausted.

"Happy to help," he said, wavering as if he might fall. He yawned a very toothy yawn, his fangs gleaming. "If you'll excuse me, I have hundreds of years of sleep to catch up on."

Kona smiled, watching him slowly traverse the rubble and collapse into his coffin.

"Talk to you later, then?" Kona called, and a hand rose from the coffin, giving a lazy thumbs-up.

"I was expecting a different finger. He really has changed," Kona said, and Kari laughed with her.


	15. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

Kona fidgeted in her maroon dress. She had always hated dresses. It was difficult to run in them without being indecent, and they didn't protect you like a full body of clothes did.

But Reena had given it to her when she moved in, and Kona appreciated the sentiment.

"Hey kiddo," Officer Harada said, knocking on the door. "How you settling in?"

"It's… weird. Having… family," she said, making a face. "It's not all rainbows and butterflies. I have a curfew. _A curfew._ But… I actually don't mind. It's kind of nice having someone care about me enough to say 'no.' But Reena likes to buy me dresses, and _I hate dresses!"_ she said, fidgeting again, feeling like she could never pull the dress down her legs far enough.

Harada smiled, stepping inside the office. "I meant in your new job," he said, motioning to the door, where the glass read Korikona Seuhlo, Cybersecurity.

"Oh," Kona said, grinning. "Is it conceited of me to say _I have the best job ever?!"_

Harada smiled. "No," he replied, sitting in the chair on the other side of her desk. "In fact, that's what everyone looks for in life—a job that's not a job."

Kona nodded. He had been like a second father since she moved into the Seuhlo's house. He had gone before a judge on her behalf, and convinced him to give her community service for her many charges. Then he had started a fundraiser to begin collecting money so she could go to college. And, as it turned out, the city of Odaiba was extremely willing to give back to the daughter of their patrons in the Odaiba Disaster Recovery. She hadn't enrolled in classes yet. A new home, family, and job were a bit overwhelming. She wanted to settle a bit before going, but she had every intention of pursuing a degree in Technical Engineering.

"Well, I got a job for you," Harada said, flopping a folder in front of her. "Last week, a major virus attacked the Stock Exchange. Nothing was lost or stolen, but it halted trading for several hours. Think you can handle it?"

She grinned, flipping the file open and studying the attack patterns. "With some help from a friend," she said, turning to her computer.

"I'll leave you to it, then," Harada said, hopping to his feet and heading for the door. "Welcome to the force," he said genuinely, exiting.

 _M, you there?_ Kona thought.

 **"Always."**

 _You know, you being in my head… this is going to get weird as I get older. What about when I start dating?_

 **"Maybe I can give you pointers. I am male, you know…"**

 _Oh God, how awkward would that be? And…codes can reproduce?_ She asked with shock.

 **"Perhaps you're right, let's not discuss this.** _ **Ever.**_ **"**

 _Good plan. I'm coming to you,_ she thought, sliding the crest USB into her computer.

When the process spit her out, she was in a grand ballroom, and M was playing a huge organ piano in a far corner, the organ pipes reaching almost to the high ceiling. It was a somber but incredibly breathtaking ballad. He smiled wide, his fangs gleaming with the light of the chandeliers. He had clearly done a marvelous job of rebuilding.

"Welcome back," he said, standing. The piano continued to play as he approached her.

"That's kinda cryptic," she said motioning at the piano. "Pianomon?" she asked.

He laughed hard. "No, just a piano that plays itself."

"Oh. Bummer. Pianomon sounds interesting," she said, brushing out the dress.

"That is a beautiful dress," M said, taking one of her hands and placing it on his shoulder, and holding the other. As if to dance.

"No. _Oh, no_. I can't dance," she said, trying to pull away.

"No, you don't know how," he said, spinning back and forcing her to follow. "You certainly _can_."

"Don't we have a job to do?" she asked, trying not to follow with him but failing.

"Whoever it is can wait. Just one song," he said. "Follow my lead."

She sighed. "Fine. One song. Then we get to work."


End file.
